CoLENSO. — Bemlnisceiices of the Ancient MaoTu. 447 



up securely in a clothing-mat (kahu), lest it should be noisily 

 wondered at by those who were strangers or unacquainted 

 with it {koi umeretia e nga tangata taulwii). You also ask 

 what instrument was used for cutting off the head of the 

 mako. What, indeed ! Why, the saw made of the teeth of 

 the tatere shark firmly fixed on to a wooden blade (he niho 

 tatere, he viea hohou ki runga ki te rakmi). You further inquire 

 respecting the number of its teeth. There are eight — that is, 

 large ones from within, and also eight smaller ones of them 

 outside. Besides those there were several much smaller ones 

 in front or outside (o icaho raxua), but these I never counted, 

 and therefore cannot give their exact number."''' 



He also wrote (in another and subsequent letter) in answer 

 to my further inquiries : " There are four very large teeth from 

 the beginning, or within. These are called rei, and are kept 

 for ear-pendants. Altogether there are eight teeth — that is, 

 four very large ones, and four smaller, making eight in all.f 

 The outside teeth resemble those of the tatere shark, and are 

 only termed teeth {niho) ; these have no other name, but those 

 that are kept for ear-pendants are called au-rei. Then, you 

 wish to know how the viako was captured by us Maoris in the 

 olden times. Listen. This fish was never taken as other 

 sharks (mango) were, with hook and bait : none of our fish- 

 hooks would be strong enough to hold it, they would soon be 

 broken. Now, when the fishing-canoe was out fishing, and 

 had been a long time there catching fishes of various kinds, 

 suddenly a mako would be seen coming leisurely along on the 

 surface of the water (e hara mai iwa ana i te kiri o te wai, ara 

 i te kare o te ivai). Then the man who saw it would shout out 

 to his companions in the canoe, ' Haul up our land ' (Hutia 

 mai to tatou ivhenua), not naming the fish;| and when the 

 mako v.-as pretty near to the canoe, about three yards off', then 



* " E waru nga niho nunui o roto, e waru hoki o waho mai o era, nga 

 mea iti nei, haunga hoki nga niho o waho kaore au e mohio ki te 

 tatau." 



t " Ko nga niho nunui rawa e wha o te timatanga mai, he rei ena, 

 nga mea e waiho ana hei tan taringa e waru tonu ana niho, e wha nga 

 mea nunui rawa, e wha hoki nga mea tuaririki, ka waru ai." As there is 

 apparently a discrepancy in the two letters of my ]\Iaori informant re- 

 specting the number of the prized teeth of the mako, I have given here 

 in these two notes his own precise words ; he seems to be very exact. He 

 may, however, have counted them by pairs in his second letter — as the 

 eld ^Maoris always did men, kiimara (sweet potatoes), and fish, and a few 

 other things — but, though understood, was omitted by his younger secre- 

 tary ; and, if so, then his number will be quite correct, and the same in 

 both letters. 



\ Observe here two things : (1) " not naming the fish," from a super- 

 stitious belief and custom which also obtained in a few matters on shore; 

 and (2) the peculiar cry of the descrier, which no doubt had reference to 

 the old myth of Maui fishing up the North Island from ocean's depths. 



